Licensed Insolvency Practitioners & Business Recovery Professionals

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1 Licensed Insolvency Practitioners & Business Recovery Professionals

2 What is Insolvency? A company or individual does not move from solvency to insolvency overnight. There is invariably a difficult period, a stage when they are just about managing, but wondering what the future may hold. If you notice that your client is becoming more difficult to contact, or perhaps is being slow to pay your own invoices, they could well be experiencing the early stages of insolvency. The Insolvency Test There are three key questions to determine whether a company or individual is insolvent. Cash flow test Can your client pay their debts as and when they fall due? If your client is suffering from poor cash-flow and as a result is unable to meet the payment terms of their creditors, then your client is more than likely insolvent. Balance sheet test Are your client s assets exceeded by their liabilities? If a company or person owes more than they own, they are more than likely insolvent. Legal action test Has any legal action been taken out against your client? If a creditor has begun or has threatened legal action, such as obtaining a county court judgment (CCJ) or a statutory demand, this may indicate to the Court that your client is insolvent. This may allow the creditor to petition to wind up the company or apply to have your client made bankrupt. If you believe that your client has failed any of the above tests, it is crucial that they take immediate action. Insolvent companies Directors of a company have a legal obligation to take action or seek advice if they believe that their company is insolvent. If they don t act, then directors can find themselves personally liable for the debts that they have accrued since they should have taken those steps. The Company Director Disqualification Act 1986 deals harshly with directors who ignore the early warning signals and continue to trade. Insolvent individuals Personal Insolvency shouldn t be a taboo subject, while the team at Focus understand it is a sensitive topic, talking about difficulties is the first step to resolving those difficulties. Although an insolvent individual does not have a legal obligation to seek advice, it is certainly the correct course of action. By not seeking advice, an individual inevitably worsens their financial difficulties in the long run, leading to less solutions that can resolve their difficulties. Insolvency does not mean that there is no hope Too often it is assumed that an insolvent company must close, or an insolvent person must be declared bankrupt. If assistance is sought by a licensed professional at an early enough stage, there are many options that can help turn around your client s fortunes.

3 Business turnaround Focus Insolvency specialise in rescue and recovery. If your client s limited company is suffering with financial burdens but it is a viable business with prospects of a brighter future, our Insolvency Practitioners can help to turn that business around. Company Restructure Our first aim is to see whether your client s business can and should avoid a formal insolvency procedure. We will carry out a full assessment of the business, identifying both the strengths and potential weakness of the company, highlighting areas of change or improvement. We will work closely with your client to develop a realistic and achievable business turnaround plan, covering areas such as what alternative finance options are available, including grants that the company may be eligible for. Administration and Pre-Packaged Administration An Administrator has the power to trade, manage and sell businesses as a going concern in order to maximise the return to creditors. Administrators can be appointed by the Courts, creditors or the Directors themselves. Administration would provide your client with immediate protection; all action by creditors is halted so a rescue plan can be formulated. If the business can be salvaged, it can continue to trade; if there is no prospect of business success, the company will be liquidated. If your client is keen to continue the business but not the company, it might be possible to arrange a pre-pack. Before an administrator is appointed, we will agree a deal for the sale of the business and/or its assets to the current directors. As soon as the company is put into administration, the deal will be carried out as arranged. The liabilities remain with the company, resulting in an attractive package for sale. Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) A CVA is one of the best ways to maximise a business chance of survival. It a binding agreement between a company and its creditors about the repayment of all or part of its debts over an agreed period of time. A CVA can preserve your client s company, enabling it to continue trading, rebuilding turnover and profit. Our IPs will analyse your client s cash-flow, ensuring that it is paying back only what it can afford over an agreed period of time (usually 60 months). Your client can retain control of the company, continuing to trade without the burden of historical debts that can be a significant drain on cash flow. Once the arrangement has been completed, any outstanding debt will be written off. HMRC Time-to-Pay Arrangement If your client s problem is owing too much money to the taxman, our specialist Tax Debt Help & Advice department may be able to help. They specialise in putting together Time-to-Pay Arrangements, whereby your client can make affordable monthly repayments. As our team negotiates with HMRC on a daily basis, their experience and expertise often leads to a better overall outcome for your client. They can deal with any type of tax debts, including PAYE, VAT and general fines.

4 Company closure Directors are often not just financially invested in their business, but emotionally as well. We understand what a difficult decision it can be to close down a company, but we are here for your client when this is the only viable option for their business. Dissolution A dissolution is an alternative company closure method to a liquidation, which is also known as a company strike off. It is often a more cost effective method of closure than a liquidation if your client s company has minimal assets and liabilities. Focus Insolvency would deal with all contact with the company s creditors, Companies House and HMRC on your client s behalf. The strike off process will deal with any outstanding company assets, debts and any other unresolved company issues. At the completion of the process, the company will be struck off the register, and your client s duties as a director will come to an end. The difficulty with a dissolution is that if your client is insolvent, a creditor could object to the dissolution process. Although your client could apply for a dissolution themselves, in our experience professional assistance makes the dissolution much more likely to be successful. Because we regularly deal with dissolutions, we know exactly what the likely pitfalls are, and have a wealth of experience in dealing with any objections from creditors or Companies House. Focus Insolvency can overcome these objections to allow your client s dissolution to go ahead as planned. Creditors Voluntary Liquidation (CVL) A CVL is the most useful insolvency solution where the business is no longer deemed viable and the debts must be dealt with by a liquidator. The liquidator s primary duty is to sell the company assets for the benefit of the company s creditors. A CVL is the most thorough way to wind up a company, as it does not allow creditors the opportunity to object. If your client has been experiencing pressure from creditors such as bailiff action, they can still liquidate the company. Once we have given notice of the meeting to creditors, any bailiff action against the company assets is void, so all action is usually put on hold pending the appointment of a Liquidator. Our agents will work closely with your client to establish the value of the company assets. Your client will be given the opportunity to make an offer for any company assets, providing the offer reflects the valuation figures. Once the company is in Liquidation, your client s role as a director ceases and their duty from thereon is minimal. They will then be free to pursue other ventures, including setting up a new company. If the company s staff are made redundant, we can give advice to all employees regarding making a claim in the liquidation. The staff may be also be eligible to make a claim to the National Insurance Fund for any unpaid wages, holiday pay, pay in lieu and redundancy. Directors of the company are also eligible to apply; we may be able to arrange for your client s redundancy claim to fund the liquidation process.

5 Solutions for insolvent individuals Personal debt often goes hand in hand with business debt, and our licensed Insolvency Practitioners can advise Directors on both. Focus Insolvency has a dedicated personal debt advice team that support our IPs to find the ideal solution for your client. Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) An IVA is similar to a CVA, but as its name suggests is designed for personal debt rather than corporate. One affordable monthly repayment can help directors to manage their personal liabilities whilst ceasing pressure from their creditors. If your client is a sole trader or in a partnership, their business credit rating and their personal credit rating are one and the same. An IVA might be particularly useful in this scenario, as both their business and personal debts could be included within the IVA. We will work directly with your client to investigate if an IVA is a suitable solution for them. We will help your client put together an Income and Expenditure, detailing their earnings and priority expenses (e.g. mortgage, rent, council tax. utilities, food etc). If your client has a sufficient level of disposable income and has debts over 7,000 that they cannot pay, an IVA may well be a suitable solution. An IVA is seen by the majority of creditors as a better alternative to bankruptcy. For an IVA to proceed in excess of 75% by majority in value of creditors need to accept the proposal; however we would not propose an IVA if we did not think it would be accepted. Our fees will be outlined in the proposal to the creditors. Your client s creditors will agree an amount for our fees, which will be deducted from the agreed monthly payments; therefore it is the creditors who effectively pay the costs. Your client only need to make 60 months payments, the costs are deducted from this and the balance goes to the creditors; we guarantee that there will be nothing extra to pay. Debt Relief Orders (DROs) A DRO can be a useful way of dealing with lower levels of debt. If your client owes less than 20,000, has very little spare income and doesn t own their own home, then they may be eligible. A DRO helps to cease creditor pressure, and your client would usually be discharged from their debts after 12 months. Bankruptcy If your client is contemplating bankruptcy, Focus Insolvency will always thoroughly explore all other alternatives first. Bankruptcy is a very big step, and should only be used as a last resort; which is why it is so important that your client seeks professional advice first. If after our investigations it is clear your client s debts are overwhelming and bankruptcy is the best way forward, we can help guide them through the process, assisting with the required online forms and giving financial advice. Bankruptcy would give your client the chance to have a fresh start; there will be no more visits from the bailiff, and all legal action against them will be stopped. Once an IVA is accepted, your client s creditors are legally bound by the arrangement and will no longer continue to request payments or telephone them. Another advantage with an IVA is that once the proposal is accepted, all interest and charges will be frozen from that date. All correspondence will be dealt with by Focus Insolvency Group and as long your client makes their agreed monthly payment, they will be legally free from debt in 60 months.

6 Why work with Focus Insolvency Group? Focus Insolvency has successfully established itself as a top 20 insolvency firm. We pride ourselves on having the correct blend of expertise, experience and professionally qualified staff to deliver all the necessary services and products, but with the traditional bespoke personal service of a local and friendly company at a competitive cost. Our Professional Partners Focus Insolvency are always on the lookout to increase the number of Professional Partners we have. Focus Insolvency will not compete with you; we do not provide legal, taxation or accountancy advice. Partnering with a licensed insolvency practice allows you to offer an all-round service to your clients. If you seek advice from us at an early enough stage, we will be able to help your client turn around their fortunes, enhancing your client retention rates. Our services to you are provided free of charge and with no obligation. We can offer reciprocal work to our Professional Partners, and can offer you and your staff training on any areas of insolvency that you are interested in learning more about. Our Company Values Integrity We have strong ethics and are always open, honest and reliable. Quality Delivering excellent standards consistently from our experienced and qualified directors and staff. Service We take pride in delivering the highest standard of service possible. Value We strive to deliver exceptional value to our Professional Partners and their clients. Innovation We strive to be better every day. Accountability We accept that we have an obligation to take responsibility and account for our actions. Positivity We have a can do attitude and are passionate about our business. The Advice Process The advice process generally starts with a phone call or an to one of our Licensed Insolvency Practitioners (Anthony Fisher, Natalie Hughes and Gary Birchall) or our Group Development Director, Andy Platt. They will ask you some questions about your client, and can provide you some initial expert advice. We understand that a client can find themselves in financial difficulty for a huge variety of different reasons. We will meet with your client, taking the time to ensure we fully understand their unique circumstances. We provide this service completely free of charge and without obligation. Our team will work with you and your client to identify the available options, understand their implications and agree a course of action designed to result in the best possible outcome. We will confirm our advice in writing to both you and your client. Once a course of action has been agreed, we will continue to liaise directly with your client until we can resolve their financial difficulties. You will be able to take as hands-on or hands-off approach as you wish; you are quite welcome to attend any meetings with your client, and receive copies of any correspondence we send them. If you d rather leave it all to us, that s ok too!

7 Wigan Skull House Lane, Appley Bridge, Wigan, WN6 9EU Manchester Centurion House, 129 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 3WR Leeds 1a Ash Lane, Garforth, Leeds, LS25 2HG Tel: Fax: Tel: Tel: Anthony Fisher MIPA, FABRP, Gary Birchall MIPA, FABRP and Natalie Hughes MIPA, FABRP are licensed to act as Insolvency Practitioners in the UK by the Insolvency Practitioners Association. Focus Insolvency Group is a trading style of Debtfocus Business Recovery & Insolvency Limited. Registered in England & Wales Company Number VAT Number: Copyright 2017 Focus Insolvency Group